Simply Balisha

Friday, December 19, 2014

A Little Child Shall Lead

We had a visit from these little ones yesterday. Oh, their mom and dad came too :) They came for lunch and stayed all afternoon. We really had a chance to catch up on their lives. Great grandpa Joe is holding little Annah and Drake who is always ready for a picture.

I asked Drake if he liked chicken noodle soup and he said, "I love it." I couldn't have had a better lunch. I made homemade soup just the day before and we had the taco seven layer dip with chips, a plate of cheese and sausages, some relishes, and for dessert....ice cream sundaes and oreos with red frosting in the middle. Drake mentioned that he didn't like carrots, but he started eating them and finished all the carrots in his soup....good boy. When it came time for dessert, he told me that he didn't really like ice cream. I bought some little snowman ice creams just for him and when he saw them, he decided that he wanted one. I let him decorate it with choc. sauce, whipped cream, and a cherry. No cherry for him.

Our conversation at the table was about the soup and some other recipes that Joe was telling about. Joe's grandma raised him and was from Sicily. As a little boy, Joe had to take her shopping and translate for her. Here was this little boy, on tiptoe, telling the butcher what they wanted and then talking between his Grandma and the butcher. He remembers many of her "Peasant" recipes. Dave asked how the soup was made and between Joe and I we got the recipe across to him. Dave and Ashley sampled Joe's fried peppers and they loved them along with the dried Italian olives. I promised to send them the recipes by email.

While all this was going on, little Annah was entertaining herself on a blanket on the floor. No pacifier for this little girl. She entertains herself, by looking around at everything.....especially watching her young brother playing. He stops what he's doing and talks to her, kisses her and shows so much affection. She blows bubbles and coos in return. She's going to be a beauty when she grows up. The apple of her great grandpa's eye. First girl born to the Cerasa's. Oh, my!

Drake and I played hide and seek, made a fort, played I Spy, and played with his little action figures. He brought a little feathered cardinal...so tiny maybe two inches long....a feather had come off and he wanted me to glue it...which I did after lunch. It belonged to his Great Grandma. He didn't talk much about Christmas....he has been to see Santa and has a little tree in his room. He gave me a candy cane to put on my tree. He was fascinated by my little woodland tree. He knew all the animals and picked out his favorite...the turtle. I later gave it to him for his tree.

We spent a lot of time looking at the different pebbles in my tray for under my orchids. He had been to the children's museum and knew what a fossil was. We were trying to find different shapes and fossils. Later, Grandpa Joe gave him a shiny stone that had been polished...Drake loved it. As I was looking at this little guy...so satisfied with just the simple things, I thought to myself, "Why can't we all be like this? When do we lose that innocence of childhood, when everything is a wonder?"

We enjoyed their visit, so much. We don't get a lot of company so when they do come it's special to us. We'll see them again on Jan. 4th, when we celebrate Christmas with Joe's family.

2015 Gardening Year

Balisha

Winter Time

Robert Louis Stevenson (from A Child’s Garden of Verses,
Late lies the wintry sun a-bed,
A frosty, fiery sleepy-head;
Blinks but an hour or two; and then,
A blood-red orange, sets again.
Before the stars have left the skies,
At morning in the dark I rise;
And shivering in my nakedness,
By the cold candle, bathe and dress.
Close by the jolly fire I sit
To warm my frozen bones a bit;
Or with a reindeer-sled, explore
The colder countries round the door.
When to go out, my nurse doth wrap
Me in my comforter and cap;
The cold wind burns my face, and blows
Its frosty pepper up my nose.
Black are my steps on silver sod;
Thick blows my frosty breath abroad;
And tree and house, and hill and lake,
Are frosted like a wedding-cake.

The Lessons of St Francis.....How to bring simplicity and spirituality into your daily life.